A life following in his footsteps

From the promise to Uncle To and General Vo Nguyen Giap

When mentioning writer Trinh Quang Phu, we cannot help but mention his tireless journey with works written about President Ho Chi Minh: The South in His Heart, He is the Faith, Uncle Ho's Road to Save the Country, Following Uncle Ho to the Resistance, From Sen Village to Ben Nha Rong and Following His Footprints. Of which, the work From Sen Village to Ben Nha Rong has been reprinted 22 times in 26 years of publication, Uncle Ho's Road to Save the Country and Following Uncle Ho to the Resistance have been reprinted 17 times.

Writer Trinh Quang Phu shared at the launch of his work Following His Footsteps

Professor Trinh Quang Phu said that after the work From Sen Village to Ben Nha Rong was first published at the Literature Publishing House in 1996, he brought the book to present to Prime Minister Pham Van Dong, whom he affectionately called Uncle To. During that intimate meeting, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong advised him: “You should spend time researching the 30 years Uncle Ho spent abroad. The 30 years from the day Uncle Ho left Saigon until the day he returned home is a very attractive treasure.” Similarly, General Vo Nguyen Giap, during their conversation, also reminded him to research and write about Uncle Ho’s time abroad. “The work From Sen Village to Ben Nha Rong was written about Uncle Ho from his childhood until May 5, 1911, when Uncle Ho left Ben Nha Rong to find a way to save the country. The General really looked forward to me continuing to write about Uncle Ho’s time abroad,” writer Trinh Quang Phu recalled.

After a long time of constantly searching for valuable documents, traveling, collecting, recording, comparing and then diligently writing, at the age of 84, writer Trinh Quang Phu released the memoir Following His Footprints, as a way to fulfill his promise to Uncle To and General Vo Nguyen Giap years ago.

Portrait of young man Nguyen Tat Thanh

Following His Footsteps with nearly 600 pages and many valuable documentary images, takes readers on the 30-year journey of young Nguyen Tat Thanh since he boarded the Amiral Latouche Tréville leaving the Saigon River. On that journey, the portrait of young Nguyen Tat Thanh is also portrayed, both familiar and showing the excellence and greatness of a young man who nurtured great ambitions early on.

To complete the work, Professor Trinh Quang Phu went to France, England, America, the Soviet Union (now Russia), Guangzhou, Hong Kong (China)... There were places like France and Russia that he had to go to dozens of times. He even went to the Far East of the Soviet Union, to Khabarovsk and the port of Vladivostok, to the train station and the Versailles Hotel in Vladivostok. In particular, there were times when it was very cold in Russia but he still went, simply because this was the time when Uncle Ho lived and worked. Thanks to that, the work touched the hearts of readers with vivid details and images.

The book begins with Uncle Ho's years in France. Here, he had to do many different jobs such as snow shoveling, waiter, baker, photo retoucher... to earn a living. Notably, the spirit of self-study was always present in the young man Nguyen Tat Thanh, as a symbol for many generations to follow. From France, his footprints continued to spread to England, America, the Soviet Union, China... and ended his 30-year journey on January 28, 1941, when Uncle Ho returned to Pac Bo.

Writing about Uncle Ho, but not only stopping at love and respect, Professor Trinh Quang Phu also took the trouble to go to many places both in and outside the country to collect, record and compare documents, finding the most reasonable stories and details to write. That is why, when turning the pages of Following the Footsteps of Uncle Ho, readers will have more interesting and reliable new information about Uncle Ho's life and revolutionary career.

Professor Trinh Quang Phu is currently the Director of the Institute for Oriental Development Studies. He is also a member of the Vietnam Writers Association and the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association. From 1960-1962, he began his writing career and won the second prize for his reportage in the Cuu Quoc newspaper.

Many of his works have been honored with prestigious awards such as: Travelogue in a foreign land won the Mekong Literature Award in 2022 and the Ho Chi Minh City Creativity Award in 2023, From Sen Village to Ben Nha Rong won the A prize in the Award for composing and promoting literary, artistic and journalistic works on the theme "Studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style" for the period 2021-2023 of the Central Propaganda Department... Recently, his travelogue Following the Footsteps won first prize in the literature field in the "50 Years - Proud of the Heroic Epic" creative campaign of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.

HO SON

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/mot-doi-theo-dau-chan-nguoi-post790838.html